A WOMAN and teenage boy who lured a pensioner to his death in Coventry will be sentenced in the New Year after being found guilty of murder.
Antoinette Sheppard and the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, murdered Michael Brady at an address on Bowness Close on June 18.
The court heard how Sheppard befriended Mr Brady, who was 72 at the time of his death, before luring him to her home, and CCTV showed him entering her address shortly after 6pm.
At the same time, messages were exchanged between both suspects discussing robbing him, and it was around this time they murdered Mr Brady before putting his body in a large TV box and dragging it to an outside shed to hide.
Sheppard and the boy then stole Mr Brady’s bank card, taking it to a nearby shop and withdrawing more than £300 to buy alcohol, but police were called, leading to her arrest.
The 16-year-old boy was arrested later on.
In an interview, both suspects blamed each other for Mr Brady’s death, claiming they each tried to stop the other, but during the trial, phone messages were shown in which Sheppard and the boy discussed inflicting violence on someone.
One message from the boy said ‘I am on one. I am going to hurt people.’
Following concerns from members of the public, police were called to the address, and upon arrival they searched the shed, finding Mr Brady’s body and arresting Sheppard, 44, on suspicion of murder.
The teenage boy phoned Sheppard at this time and, when officers answered, said ‘If you want to speak to me, you’ll have to find me.’
The teenager, now 17, was later found after he told a social worker he had been asked to hide a body.
The pair will be sentenced on February 9 at Warwickshire Justice Centre.
Det Insp Jim Colclough said: “This was a tragic case of a vulnerable man being killed by people he thought he could trust.
“This was a planned and pre-meditated act of violence, with messages exchanged between both defendants discussing what they were going to do.
“Not only did they murder Mr Brady, but they were both perfectly content to try and blame each other for it.
“We hope Mr Brady’s family will take some closure from this and that justice has been done.”
